Diving in Australia in June

[rabe]

8 dives in yongala is too much, no?

it's alright...
you're ndl will be low though...

 

[David Novo]

Why would my NDL be low with Nitrox and 18 hours of surface interval every 2 dives?

 

[David Novo]

Any diving close by that you would recommend? After let's say Mike ball (cod hole) and 4 dives in yongala.

 

[rabe]

Why would my NDL be low with Nitrox and 18 hours of surface interval every 2 dives?

I thought it was 8 dives in 48 hours... no?

 

[David Novo]

I thought it was 8 dives in 48 hours... no?

No, I meant staying 4 days diving the yongala, instead of 2

 

[rabe]

No, I meant staying 4 days diving the yongala, instead of 2

oh, ok then, you won't have any problem: enjoy the yongala!
let me know if you come down to brisbane and need a buddy

 

[Chris Ross]

Some extra days at Yongala might come in handy, conditions may mean they can't go out every day. Which capital city you flying into? If you fly through Sydney you could do some diving in Botany Bay looking for weedy sea dragons and Australian giant cuttlefish among other things. Water temperature be about 16° or so, diving is a little weather dependent and if a big storm comes through big seas can close off sites, but if conditions are good some nice diving.

 

[David Novo]

Just to give some feedback on how the diving part of my trip went:

First I did the Spoilsport 4-night Minke Whale Expedition and it was absolutely great:
- Visibility was fantastic;
- Minke whales everyday for several hours, with a peak of 16 at the same time - Dr Alastair Birtles from James Cook University, who studies minke whales was on the boat (as far as I got, there is always someone from his team in these minke whale liveaboards in June/July) and gave us presentations after dinner on the minkes and the behaviours we had observed.
- Very nice coral specially at Steve's and Lighthouse Boomies;
- Great night dives with sharks, specially at Challenger's Bay (several white tip reef sharks and at least one grey reef shark);
- Turtles everywhere;
- Large potato cods in Cod Hole as expected;
- Really enjoyed everything on the boat;
- Very scenic low level flight from Lizard Island to Cairns, going through the main highlights of the GBR.

On arrival, I drove to Alva beach and slept there before 2 dives x 2 days in Yongala (definitely also a must do):
- Humpbacks on the surface on first day the whole time (they even breached twice when we were gearing up);
- Huge turtle and grouper;
- Sea snakes;
- Lots of other smaller life;
- Visibility was around 10-15m (clearly worse than Ribbon Reefs).

 

[rabe]

- Minke whales everyday for several hours, with a peak of 16 at the same time - Dr Alastair Birtles from James Cook University, who studies minke whales was on the boat (as far as I got, there is always someone from his team in these minke whale liveaboards in June/July) and gave us presentations after dinner on the minkes and the behaviours we had observed.

I honestly HATE that part.
First: you cannot monopolise the whole boat for 4 freaking days and talk every night about freaking Minkes. This was actually not just me, but overall the feeling on the boat...
Second: I am a scientist myself (different field), and it was very annoying for me to see an aspect of my job when I was on vacation. I was actually trying to escape from the classic egoistic academic scientist that I have to deal every day, and who did I find on the boat? One of them.

 

[David Novo]

I honestly HATE that part.
First: you cannot monopolise the whole boat for 4 freaking days and talk every night about freaking Minkes. This was actually not just me, but overall the feeling on the boat...
Second: I am a scientist myself (different field), and it was very annoying for me to see an aspect of my job when I was on vacation. I was actually trying to escape from the classic egoistic academic scientist that I have to deal every day, and who did I find on the boat? One of them.

I found it really improved the trip.